Hearings Tonight On Rezoning, Sewage

July 03, 2007|By JON CAWLEY, jcawley@dailypress.com | 757-247-4635

GLOUCESTER — Tonight's Gloucester County Board of Supervisors agenda is packed with four public hearings including a discussion of proposed new regulations for alternative sewage disposal systems and a rezoning request to build a senior community off Main Street.

The regular monthly meeting will be at 7 p.m. in the Colonial Courthouse on Main Street. The public hearing portion of the meeting begins at 8 p.m.

Supervisors could act tonight on any of the issues discussed.

The first public hearing concerns a rezoning application for the senior community, called the Villas of Gloucester Courthouse. Supervisors are being asked to rezone nearly 60 acres, most of which are designated single- family to a multi-family zone. The wooded and vacant property is near the intersection of business Route 17 and T.C. Walker Road.

Developers would construct 31 buildings containing 124 condominiums with attached garages and estimated sizes between 1,300 and 1,870 square feet. The average cost per home would be $265,000, according to rezoning documents.

If built, the Villas are expected to house 211 people and no school-aged children. Developers would pay $3,000 for each condominium built, or $372,000 total, to offset public service costs, documents said.

The night's second public hearing will address a long-standing Gloucester issue concerning alternative septic systems -- devices that are capable of allowing waste disposal in areas where conventional septic tanks would not function. There are currently no state or county regulations regarding maintenance and use of the systems that are permitted by the Virginia Department of Health.

A county work group drafted an ordinance that would provide oversight for the developing technology.

Among the proposed rules:

* A signed agreement detailing the owner's maintenance obligations that would be filed with the Circuit Court clerk's office prior to installation.

* Alternative sewage disposal systems that are not maintained or serviced on a yearly basis would be deemed misused or neglected.

* Maintenance and service providers would be required to report to county officials all discovered failures, deficiencies, modifications and expansions of alternative systems.

* Verification of a minimum of 12 inches of separation between the sewage drain field and seasonal water table.

* No alternative sewage disposal system would be permitted on any new lot, created after the ordinance's effective date, within the 100-year flood plain.

Following the sewage system discussion, supervisors will vet an amendment to height requirements for residences within flood zones.

The proposed change would increase from 35 feet to 40 feet the maximum height allowed for residences within flood plains. The allowance would accommodate homes built, or reconstructed, in areas where finished first floors are required to be elevated 1 foot above base flood level.

The last public hearing of the night will address a proposed lease agreement to allow county health department offices to move from their current location on Carriage Court to the Main Street Center. *